Casa big brother out of control

[Steve Donald]

HIYA GUY'S, WELL CASA IS REALLY FLEXING IT'S WINGS NOW , On Saturdat 5/6/2010 our Aero club was having a meeting on our privately owned 500 acre property, when this dude from CASA WALKS IN With an attitude no knock on the door holding out his badge stating i want 3 of you for Drug and Alcohol testing, we said no one is flying and we are in a meeting, so our situation is no different than some of you farmers who have a hanger at your home CASA can walk in and test you even if you are not flying, and what if you had been they record the findings ON A VERY DETAILED FORM Despite a positive or negative result flying or not and then:hittinghead: retain that information WHY? A data base this is a breach of the privacy act, i do not have a problem of ramp checks or drug and alcohol testing at any aerodrome or licenced field, it is probably a good idea, same as road users contend with, but do the Police knock on your door at home to test you in case you might go for a drive NO That is a breach of law so what the hell are CASA Doing and i might add this CASA Official stated about 4 times CASA have given me a paid holiday to travel all over the country to do this testing, What a waste of money this bloke was from Melbourne we are in PT AUGUSTA SA we also stated to him CASA would be better off dealing with real safety issues such as the military aircraft which in recent weeks here mainly BLACK HAWK CHOPPERS have caused some very close encounters with GA and recreational AIRCRAFT in this area, guess what this CASA BLOKE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THAT he just enjoyed breaching our civil rights and the Privacy Act, not to mention Tresspass Act, but hey, it's Big brother our group will be seeking a formal appology from CASA so there you go be warned this is how this Government seems to operate without concideration of your rights. whats your thoughts.:hittinghead:

 

 

[Tomo]

Well I'm no consolation, but with what they (government) are allowing to happen out here, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

 

 

[Owi]

Golly mate,

 

Did you record this bloke's details? Get his name and office details to verify him?

 

Even if he checked out at CASA, you could go to the cops to file complaints as per your list. He has no mandate to violate anybody's civil rights. Just flashing a badge (that he could've bought from 'Toys-R-Us') is not authorisation enough. You could have asked him to leave your property and if he refused, you could've called the police in to remove him.

 

You have witnesses I take it? Maybe consider getting some advice from a solicitor.

 

 

[The Wolf]

Are you sure this is a "CASA out to flex its wings" or a guy who has

 

a) had a bad day and wanted to take it out on someone

 

b) having been abused at several other clubs, felt he was going to "get the boot in" before any of you could?

 

The guy repeatedly stating he was given a holiday to do this seems strongly like he is trying to re-enfore something to himself.

 

 

[dunlopdangler]

everyone in your club that was there complain to CASA as well as complain to you local members (federal as well as state).thumb_down

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

So did anyone submit to the testing or did you just show him the door as you should have had after you made note of his details to be reported to the attornery general as you should do.

 

I am really looking forward to meeting this guy and i think so is 'Rufus'.

 

 

[farri]

HIYA GUY'S, WELL CASA IS REALLY FLEXING IT'S WINGS NOW , On Saturdat 5/6/2010 our Aero club was having a meeting on our privately owned 500 acre property, when this dude from CASA WALKS IN With an attitude no knock on the door holding out his badge stating i want 3 of you for Drug and Alcohol testing.:hittinghead:

Only 3 ?,Now wouldn`t that also be victimization and discrimination to add to the list.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Steve Donald]

Are you sure this is a "CASA out to flex its wings" or a guy who has a) had a bad day and wanted to take it out on someone

b) having been abused at several other clubs, felt he was going to "get the boot in" before any of you could?

 

The guy repeatedly stating he was given a holiday to do this seems strongly like he is trying to re-enfore something to himself.

HI, yes he had a CASA Badge, he had been out to the main PT augusta Airstrip to bag the RFDS but they were closed, HE then phoned the CFI at the REC FLYING SCHOOL he got his number off the hanger there and got him to drive out there so he could drug test him and he complied, the CFI there then told him about our location and details of aircraft and he then proceeded to invade our meeting he stated a number of times about his paid holiday on Govt money, and yes lots of witneses, he tested 2 persons here a pensioner who does not fly and 1 pilot the test kit cost $30.00 per person tax payers money, the form he fills out is very detailed about yourself and is in triplicate which 1 copy stays with you, yep i think CASA have to look into this as this guy was contracted by CASA to perform what he does for them as an agent, but he should work within the law and the Public Sector Management Act.

 

 

[The Wolf]

Sounds like CASA need to look at who they are contracting things to. Unless you are at a certified aerodrome, then it isnt a testing ground (thats what i thought)

 

Although, you are stigmatising CASA for something that 1 person has done. I dont think it is fair to be saying that it is a CASA intitiative, without asking if they are condoning what he did.

 

 

[Steve Donald]

as a professional govt dept when they contract workers they are responsible to provide them with appropriate training, as well as having a total understanding of the legislation and the code of conduct, in effect whilst in their employ he is acting on their behalf and and entity of CASA,they are in fact responsible and accountable for his actions, we would like to recieve a formal apology from CASA and that they publish the details to pilots Nationaly of the correct policy surrounding this issue, because i can"t find anything in relation to private property and farmer John getting busted on his Fergy in the Paddock for over doing the PORT just because he has a plane in his Hanger, remember they record the + test or - test and keep the details of that even if you are not flying, it is quite an invasion of privacy.

 

 

[jetjr]

I think if you are not airside you cannot be tested. Now the club MAY have direct airside access which makes it fair game

 

The initial arguments were "how do they know you INTEND to fly" - the same is there for driving, having keys in pocket is enough for police to test you I think

 

 

[Powerin]

he just enjoyed breaching our civil rights and the Privacy Act, not to mention Tresspass Act, but hey, it's Big brother our group will be seeking a formal appology from CASA so there you go be warned this is how this Government seems to operate without concideration of your rights. whats your thoughts.:hittinghead:

AFAIK there are a lot of Govt Officials who have a lot more power to enter private property than the police do. Various inspectors (Workcover, livestock, wildlife and fishing, meter readers etc) can enter your land without permission and do what they like as long as it is part of their job and they show identification.

Now whether CASA inspectors can enter a private premises and conduct tests on people just because they happen to possess a pilots licence or cert is another thing. What happens if you live in an airpark with your hanger attached to your house? No drinking in your own house?

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

We keep our plane at home in the back yard. Nearest airfield 30+ kms away. We trailer it to & fro. Does that mean we can be tested also because we have the plane he & not hangered at an airfield? Wigg

 

 

[Vorticity]

I hope his holiday doesn't take him to far inland, he mmay not come back!!:yuk:

 

 

[Guest terry]

I'm very interested as to way anybody wood submit themselves to testing before checking all of the question previously mentioned. There is no good complaining after the event. I wouldn't even supply my name until I was satisfied.

 

Terry

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

i just had a quick look at the regs on this and it seems that the test may only be conducted on an approved or registed airfield or building attached to or used for a ssaa. might have missed something or misinterpreted it. so come on all you bush lawers how do you read it

 

http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/rules/1998casr/099/099casr.pdf

 

 

[monty]

Send him out to Winton Qld,

 

I have some holes out here that he wont climb out of.

 

My strip is along side the road out front of my house and the Drifter is in sight in the shed he can't miss it!!

 

Monty

 

 

[shags_j]

Have you contacted RAAus about this?

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

AFAIK there are a lot of Govt Officials who have a lot more power to enter private property than the police do. <<snipped>>

Another example I came across a couple of years back is that if you are the "Public Officer" for an organisation, the Corporate Affairs reps can visit your office and take anything they like. Even if you aren't there, they can get the police to break in...legally! (Victorian State Legislation).

 

Now imagine you are the Public Officer for a community organisation, which due to shoestring budget has no premises. The Registered Office is usually the private home of the Secretary or Public Officer:sad:

 

Just affirms your assertion that there are some far reaching powers within the control of government officers, and which go further than we would imagine!

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

I don't like the sound of 'is performing or available to perform a SSAA' - this is wide open to interpretation and could mean a tester can demand that a pilot away from 'airside' (at home?) to go to the airside area for testing. I thought that testers could only test people who are airside at the time of visiting (that's what I understood from CASA's talk at Narromine natfly).

 

 

[DKM1]

I just read the regs. The only part were you could be tested out side of air-side at a certified or registered aerodrome if. (calculation of position of freight. baggage, passengers and fuel on aircraft.)

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

being an election year it may be time to flex our 10,000 strong votes and move our loving and caring friend on. How many GA pilot votes are out there. the way Rudd is going he needs all the votes he can get, so hop to it, quick letter of complaint off to your local labor MP even if you intend to go the other way. even if it does not work may rattle McDuck up enough to rethink his attitude.

 

I'll be pushing the civil liberties and constitutional rights over the parallel path bit and recommend the three board members bit.

 

 

[eastmeg2]

There do appear to be powers to acces private property (99.465), but only to test people who are performing, or are available to perform SSAA's.

 

It might be worth formalising and displaying a DAMP on your private airfield premises stating something along the lines that intoxicated pilots are not available to perform SSAA's and that other persons (intoxicated or otherwise) on the premises will enforce this.

 

There is nothing in the CASR saying that private premises cannot develop and DAMP.

 

Then, even if the CASE tester does perform the test he/she cannot put anything in the field that indicates which SSAA the donor was performing or available to perform.

 

Also, if the tester cannot state exactly how the privacy act is being complied with then he/she is not permitted to take samples from donors.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

PS. I am not a legal adviser, the above is just my pesonal interpretation of the CASR Part99 document linked in a previous post to this thread.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

The access to private property bit is for things that are performed 'off field' like radio repair, instruments ect. from the way the regs read even if the fuel truck is serviced by the servo down the road the mechcanic is able to be tested.

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

It might be worth formalising and displaying a DAMP on your private airfield premises stating something along the lines that intoxicated pilots are not available to perform SSAA's and that other persons (intoxicated or otherwise) on the premises will enforce this.

Hmmm... so along those lines, you could probably state to a tester that you are tired, fatigued, and would never fly or even do flight planning in that condition because you can't think clearly, therefore "I am not available to perform SSAA" - thus removing yourself from the obligation to subject yourself to testing? Worth thinking about (and getting a definitive answer).